In a fix over college admissions? A guide to entrance exams and admission process in Maharashtra universities

Online application forms for candidates wishing to appear for Maharashtra common entrance test MHT-CET have been released by the state CET cell and registration and confirmation of application forms can be done until July 7.

The salary and hiring of MBA graduates are expected to return to pre-pandemic level. File/ representational image

4 min readEducation, PuneJun 17, 2021 09:44 AM IST First published on: Jun 16, 2021 at 03:34 PM IST

While schools across Maharashtra have commenced the academic year this week, there is still a lack of clarity about junior and senior college admissions. With the cancellation of board exams for Class 10 and 12 and the postponement of entrance and competitive exams for admissions, students are in a fix over college admissions.

However, many universities have begun the admission process and students need to keep an eye on the last dates for applying and qualifying entrance exams.

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Class 10, junior college admissions

As Class 10 board exams have been cancelled, each academic board has entrusted schools with the task to calculate the marks of students based on evaluation criteria like internal exams, practicals etc. The Maharashtra state education department has forbidden junior colleges affiliated to the state board to conduct first-year junior college admissions as it will hold a common entrance test (CET) for the same. First preference will be given to students who appear for CET. However, there is no clarity on the timeline for either CET or admission. Meanwhile, most CBSE, IB, ICSE schools have finished admissions for junior colleges or are in the process to do so and some have already started online lectures. Schools have given provisional admissions and many have conducted internal entrance exams or screening tests.

First-year degree college/ university admissions

Since multiple options are available to students after Class 12 to opt for either traditional courses like BSC, B.A. or BCom or opt for professional courses in medicine, engineering, architecture, law and such fields, the admission procedure for the same is also varied.

Candidates wishing to study in various undergraduate, postgraduate and certificate/diploma courses at the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) will have to appear for an online entrance exam (OEE), forms for which are now available on the website campus.unipune.ac.in until July 10. The OEE is expected to be held after July 15. A campus common entrance platform has been created to give information on the OEE and its format, it can be accessed at https://campus.unipune.ac.in/CCEP.

NEET, JEE, MHT-CET

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is scheduled for August 1, forms for which are yet to be made available. The third session of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for undergraduate engineering admissions at premier institutes like IITs and NITs, is expected in mid-July and dates are yet to be announced. Meanwhile, the online application forms for candidates wishing to appear for Maharashtra common entrance test MHT-CET have been released by the state CET cell. Online registration and confirmation of application forms can be done until July 7 on the website mhtcet2021.mahacet.org. The Maharashtra State common entrance test cell conducts the exams for admissions to the bachelor of engineering, bachelor of pharmacy and agriculture courses in colleges affiliated to Maharashtra state universities.

Deemed and private universities

Deemed and private universities have already started the process of admissions beginning with entrance tests. The last date for registration for SET (Symbiosis Entrance Test), the gateway to admissions for various undergraduate courses at Symbiosis International University was June 4,

At MIT university too, more than a thousand applications have already been received, confirmed pro-vice-chancellor Dr Ravikumar Chitnis and that applications are still being accepted for various professional degree courses.

FLAME University has invited applications from students interested in undergraduate courses and at Vishwakarma University, Dr Umesh Patwardhan, director, counselling and admissions office, said. one round of entrance tests took place in March and the second is scheduled for July 3.

While most private universities are conducting their process for admissions, a recently formed association of theirs has announced its own private CET for candidates. The association – PERA India (Preeminent Education & Research Association) – has 13 private universities in the state, including eight from Pune alone. As per the schedule, online PERA CET will commence on July 16, conclude on July 18 and results will be declared on July 23. The examination will be conducted through an online mode. The last date of PERA CET Exam online registration is July 10. More details are available on the website http://www.peraindia.in.